


Day 16: Fireplace

by Sang_argente



Series: 25 Days of Fic 2.0 [16]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst, Established Relationship, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kissing, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-17
Updated: 2015-12-17
Packaged: 2018-05-07 05:29:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5444999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sang_argente/pseuds/Sang_argente
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>for the anon that wanted more chris/stiles some months back. angst warning.</i>
</p>
<p>In the warm light of the fire, they sat and contemplated what it meant for them that they were still there together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Day 16: Fireplace

“This is nice,” Stiles said quietly, not bothering to move his head from Chris’s shoulder. He stared blankly at the flames flickering in front of them as his fingers twisted in the blanket on his lap.

“It is,” Chris agreed. Laying a hand over Stiles's, he squeezed it comfortingly. “Especially with you here.”

Stiles shifted to look at Chris, smiling at him soft and pained. “I'm sorry it took so long.”

Chris sighed. “Stiles, we've talked about this. I understand.”

Closing his eyes, Stiles took deep breaths to hold back the urge to scream. Chris did understand, he knew that. The supernatural had taken his whole family from him. But he'd always been a hunter. Stiles hadn't. He had thought that werewolves could be good, could be like humans with wolf traits instead of wolves with human traits.

Now he knew better.

A sudden sound from the fire made him snap his eyes open, looking around frantically. When Chris’s arm tightened around his shoulder, he sighed and fell onto him weakly. He'd gotten too lost in his thoughts, repeating that night over and over again. It came to him in flashes, even though when it happened it had felt like he'd never had more clarity.

His father's scream, sudden silence, the wet sound of a predator eating fresh meat.

Dry mouth, bile, ashes.

Wet grass, warm blood, nothing.

Copper, his own vomit, wolfsbane.

Darkness, his father's mangled body, his _best friend's_ frightened eyes.

“Stiles.”

“I'm here,” Stiles whispered against the warm skin of Chris’s neck. He slid his lips down the curve, laying a wet kiss against the sweet spot at the bottom.

Chris bent to wrap his other arm around Stiles and pulled, bringing the younger man into his lap. Looking into the amber eyes he loved so much for a moment, he smiled and leaned to return the kiss, this one on Stiles’s slick lips.

“It's a full moon,” Chris admitted when he finally pulled away.

“I know,” Stiles whispered, pain flashing in his eyes. He kissed Chris again softly, tracing the familiar curve of his lips with the tip of his tongue, before leaning back. “That's why we're in here. Just you, me, and the fireplace.”

Chris smiled. “A perfect Christmas.”

“Not perfect,” Stiles corrected, settling against Chris’s chest. He laced their fingers together and sighed, staring down at the tangle of flesh and bone to avoid looking at his lover. “If it were perfect, you'd be with your family and I'd be with mine.”

Brushing a kiss against Stiles's temple, Chris waited for Stiles to come to the conclusion that he had a while ago.

“But we're each other's family now and that's gotta be good enough.”

There it was.

“Just good, not good enough,” Chris said quietly, closing his eyes in contentment. “You're not a replacement, Stiles. Or a consolation prize. You just are.”

“Then what are we?” Stiles asked, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

“We are. Do you realize how easy it would have been for us to give up? To not go on, to not live. But we are. Together.”

“Together,” Stiles repeated.

Chris hummed in acknowledgement but didn't say anything else. In the warm light of the fire, they sat and contemplated what it meant for them that they were still there. Sure, they had been through things that no one should have to go through, but they'd come out the other side and that was something that not everybody could say. And they'd done it because they had had each other.

“Together,” Stiles said again, starting to smile in genuine happiness. He watched sparks pop and jump around the logs in the fire for a moment and then sighed. “Merry Christmas, Chris.”

“Merry Christmas, Stiles.”

**Author's Note:**

> christmas prompts for any pairing and any fandom are open [here. ](http://stilesthesasswolf.tumblr.com)


End file.
